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Is it customary for a managing agent to have a key to the main door of a building so that he or she can access public areas? I assumed that our MA had a key, but something happened recently that made me think he doesn't have one.
I asked other board members if the MA had a key, and they said that they didn't know.
Before I bring this up directly with the MA, I thought I'd ask the knowledgeable folks here: is there any reason why an MA shouldn't have a key to the main door of the property he or she manages?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Thanks, AdC. My assumption was that the MA would have a key. I'm surprised he doesn't. But I'm still relatively new at this stuff. Maybe the norm in most buildings is for the MA not to have access.
So I guess I'd like to hear from people: does your MA have a key to your building?
I don't know if has one or not; if he were to have one, I would not object.
AdC
Thanks. I guess this whole question is moot, because I finally did ask him directly if he had a key to the building, and he indeed does.
The reason I thought he didn't is that he recently left our monthly financials in the outside vestibule of the building. Other board members and I were shocked and when we asked via email why he had left them outside, where anyone could have picked them up, his response was that he has an arrangement with the super whereby he leaves the financials and the super recuperates them immediately and distributes them to the board. The only reason I could see for this arrangement, which strikes me as far from ideal, is that he didn't have access to the building. In a nutshell the MA blamed the super. I don't fault the super, though. In my opinion no MA in their right mind would leave confidential building information (like our monthly financial statements, which also include information such as who is in arrears, etc.) out in the open like that. If not sent via the postal service, which I would prefer, they should be handed off. Not just left like that.
They should be mailed or handed off to a board member for distribution. Period.
Anonymous - Your MA should not leave reports or other materials for BMs where anyone can take them. If he leaves them in the open and the super is to retrieve them immediately, he obviously isn't doing that if you found some in your outer vestibule. The MA should ring the super's bell (if he lives in the bldg) and give them to him directly. If the super is elsewhere in the bldg (not in his apt), the MA should call him when he arrives so the super can come get them. If the super is out or isn't available at the moment, the MA should have a key to a bldg room (office, storeroom, super's workshop) where he can leave such items and leave a message on the super's phone telling him where they are.
The MA and super should also not leave items for BMs at their doors. You'd be surprised how often they disappear. I know bldgs where owners sneak around at odd hours looking for items at BMs' doors, hoping to get private info just because they're nosey or that may make the board look bad if they're opponents of BMs and hope to discredit them. They can make excuses for how they got the info (it was left out, they got it by mistake) and they'll twist info to suit their purposes in the face of all the other owners.
If the super has reports, etc. for BMs and they aren't home, he should put a note on their mailbox that says: "Package delivery - see super" (or doorman). I suggest you talk to your MA and change how he leaves mgmt materials at your bldg for BMs.
Thanks, BP. (Anonymous above was me; sorry.) During my last term I proposed that the statements be sent through the mail, but a couple of board members felt that the packets would be too large for our mailboxes. I'm pretty sure they'll fit, though, in fact I think it's empirically verifiable, so I'll bring it up again now with the current board. A possible argument might be that mailing will cost more, but … pff. The cost of losing the statements, or of someone's privacy being violated, is far greater.
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Well, I guess your agent should have access to your property, just like workers need to get access to their workplace. While the MA may not have an office in your building, it is a place that the person supervises and needs access to it. Or, shoud your supervisor and agent representative not be trusted?...
AdC
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